Boudreau: 'We don't want it to spin out of control'

For the second day in a row, Bruce Boudreau meant business. The coach started practice with about 10 minutes worth of sprints and end-to-end rushes -- and things never really slowed down.

"If you're not going to work hard in the game, you're going to work hard in practice," Boudreau said afterward at Toyota Sports Center. "If we didn't have an afternoon practice and an afternoon game, we would have been out there for an hour and a half. You can do it once or twice a year, but you don't want to get in the habit of doing it, because all of a sudden, it loses its validity."

Whether his players got the message will be revealed tomorrow afternoon at Staple Center, where they face the Kings in a matinee matchup. The Kings are the only team Boudreau has faced more than once that he has yet to beat. (They're also his former employer.)

The lines were the same as yesterday. And, as Boudreau promised, the majority of today's workout was dedicated to polishing up the power play, which went 0 for 4 against the Sharks and is 4 for 21 in the past six games.

Boudreau implemented three units: Brooks Laich, Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin up front with Brendan Morrison and Mike Green on the points; Tomas Fleischmann, Mike Knuble and Nicklas Backstrom as forwards and Green and Tom Poti on the points; and Fleischmann, Knuble and Backstrom up front with Poti and Ovechkin on the points.

Personnel, though, isn't the problem in Boudreau's mind.

"It's usually the same message," he said. "[The power play] rises to the top [of the league]. Then we get too cute, too cute and you have to keep reminding them. I relate everything to having children. You tell them, they do it for a little while, they're good at it, then they forget about it. And the next thing their room is a mess and you have to get on them again."

"We've got good players," he added. "[The power play] has been in the top five all year. We don't need new personnel; we just need them to do the job better."

Knuble said: "At times, when you have guys with a ton of skill, the tendency is to use that skill. But that's not always best way. Sometimes making an aerial pass over a stick or two, when you can be safer and get off a shot, that's better than putting the puck up for grabs because it can get knocked down."

Boudreau also had the players work 2-on-1s and breakaways. Usually when a coach does that, it's meant as a confidence builder for the shooters, since they're supposed to score.

Before practice, Boudreau had the players sit through a lengthy video session. The focus, he said, was the team's sloppy play in the neutral zone and defensive zone recently. The Caps yielded 11 goals in the past two contests and also permitted way too many odd man rushes.

"Defensive zone is really important, but it's also simple," Boudreau said. "It's about being committed to blocking out, blocking shots, moving your legs and outworking the opposition. We showed a lot of goals from the last two games where we just weren't outworking the opposition. And when you're not outworking the opposition, you're going to get scored on. That was the key. Sometimes you lose that and you have to find a way to get it back. We don't want it to spin out of control."

On San Jose's "first good [scoring chance], [Eric] Fehr was out to lunch on it," Boudreau added. "On those kind of things, it's the gaps between our forwards and their defense or our forwards and their forwards. When the [gaps are] good, we're good and we allow 18 to 25 shots. When they're not good, they get over 30 shots."

Fehr, it seems, has found his way into Boudreau's doghouse. The big winger has been dropped to the fourth line with grinders Quintin Laing, David Steckel and Boyd Gordon. One of those four forwards could find themselves as a healthy scratch tomorrow.

I can especially think of the Caps as like children when I have one about the same age as many of them (i.e. Semin, Flash, Ovi, Fehr, and Green within a year and Schultz a teeny bit over a year younger.)

BB can certainly think that too, as he's about a year and a half younger than me.

I like what Knuble had to say. He echoed what Ovi said post game. Need to get the shots off. Getting too cute with the puck just kills them. The hard practices should help Chimera get in the groove with BB's system too.

Capsyoungguns
We're all kind of wondering what'll happen once Varly is healthy again. You'll have Theo and Varly in DC, Neuvirth and Bacashihua in Hershey, Holtby sent back to S.Carolina. But how can they send Holts back when he's playing this well? And if Holts stays in Hershey, what do they do with Bacashihua? It's a nice dilemma to have so much talent available, but I wouldn't want to be the one making that decision.

In the totally useless trivia department, "Phaneuf" is a French corruption of the last name Farnsworth. Apparently, member of the Farnsworth family had gotten kidnapped by Indians and rescued by a Frenchman who purchased his freedom and integrated him into their society (in Montreal).

I don't know anything about Bacashihua--how is he as a goalie. And why is he the backup when Neuvy is playing at Hershey. Does Holtby go back to the Stingrays rather than be backup because he'll get more playing time??? I like your Bears updates.

Someone (I don't recall who or what site it was) suggested creating an All Star Team of Canadians that did not get chosen for the Canadian Olympic team. And also suggested that Canada could field two Olympic teams.

We were all surprised in the offseason when the Bears signed Cash, since Holtby had been there as the #3 behind Neuvy and Machesney in the Calder Cup run, and we all knew Machesney was leaving. But it made sense to have a veteran goalie like Cash there to back up Neuvy while Holtby would get more playing time in S.Carolina. And Cash has been ok. He's had some really good games and some so-so ones. I don't think he'll ever be more than a career minor leaguer (not that there's anything wrong with that). But I don't think anyone dreamed that Holtby would develop as quickly as he has. And who knows, maybe it's just that the other teams haven't figured him out yet, and once they do, he'll cool off. But so far he has wowed us. And I can't see them trading or loaning Cash anywhere. If Varly gets hurt again, or Theo or Neuvy, we're going to need that goaltending depth again.

Just a side note about my Bears history, I started following the Bears and the Caps in the mid 80's. The Bears were affiliated with the Flyers back then, but since I'll never cheer for a Philly team, I adopted the Caps as my NHL team. Along the way the Bears changed affiliation to the Avalanche and now to the Caps, and am I ever glad they did. It's so much fun watching these guys "grow up" in Hershey and move up the ladder Washington.

In my case, before the Caps existed, my husband was a Flyers fan. He was born in Wilmington, DE and eventually migrated to Philly (and started following the Phillies). He moved to suburban MD and became a fan of the Washington teams (Senators and Redskins). Eventually, moved to Richmond where he became a fan of the farm teams in baseball and hockey (Braves and Flyers).

Finally, we hooked up in college. We started going to Caps game in 1975, after college graduation.

Back then, he used to hate the Bruins. Today he actually rooted for the Bruins vs the Flyers. A true converted fan.

I live in PA but close to the Mason-Dixon line, in York County. I'm almost halfway between Baltimore and Hershey. My dad was born in Philly but his ancestors were from Maryland and he and his family moved to this area when he was still a kid, so I choose not to acknowledge the Philly connection.

Thanks for the info. Developing ahead of schedule. That is pretty great. I have become really interested in the Bears as I watch these guys go back and forth. We're pretty lucky I think in this affiliation between the Caps and Bears.

@CapsFan75
As you mentioned the Flyers 1970's farm team in the AHL was the Richmond Robins. Interestingly enough the Robins were shared as a farm team by the Flyers and the Capitals in 1974-75 (which was the Caps first year). Michele Belhumeur was a former Robins goalie who suffered through the Caps first season of defeat. Another Caps goalie was Bernie Wolfe, who also was a former Robin.

Yea, the Wolfes live in Potomac. I was friends with his daughter, Amanda. We went to school together from 6th through 12th grade. I remembering being in her basement and seeing some photos of Bernie from his Caps days.

Many of you know that Jeff Halpern is also from Potomac. He was a good friend of mine growing up. Amanda, myself and Jeff are all the same age and had the same group of friends for years. Jeff left Churchill HS in 9th or 10th grade to pursue hockey more seriously.

I think Theo will take a back seat to Val when he returns from Hersey. Theo has not played well and allows to many soft goals, Val plays to show he can be dominating between the post. If the caps when the cup this season it will be with Val. Just my 2 cents ....

anyone plan on going out to the Kettler today to see the FBI vs. Secret Service game? I went last year with the family and had a great time, they all can play and really go at. It's right before the Caps game on TV. the atmosphere is great, the place will be backed to the rafters, elliots always there, cool raffle items and you get watch these guys beat each other up. see ya there.

That's pretty good that Bernie Wolfe went on to get his law degree after hockey. Another Richmond Robin connection to the Caps and today's game: Terry Murray (current Kings Coach) was also a former Robin, Capital, Caps coach.

For Fehr, it's one thing if you're a constant scoring threat and making bad decisions, a la Semin with his stick penalties, but Fehr seems to score in streaks. Bad news when you're cold and costing the team. Some time in the dog house may help him in both areas.

I'd say Fehr has done no worse as of late than most of our second line cast of characters. At least, Knuble finally scored.

Okay, our second line has been a rotating cast of any forward not named Ovechkin. (At least of our forwards who play on Lines 1-3)

I remember at the beginning of the year, our second line was usually Laich, Morrison, and Knuble and they started off well. Once they tailed off, someone here posted "I like last year's second line better". Last year's line had even less stability than this year's line.

My recommendation for the second line: Flash/Morrison/Fehr. It was working just fine before it got broken up.

I was beginning to wonder if I was a jinx for the Caps, myself. They weren't winning with me at the game during Feb and March and April of last year.

But I did see the win on Fan Appreciation Day. And I was there for Game 5 and Game 7 against the Rags.

In my worst moments, I wonder if I'm a jinx to hockey teams I like (note the track record of both the Blues and Caps in playoffs). I've rooted for winners in other sports (the baseball Cardinals, the Orioles, Redskins in the 80s) and my kids' swim team have had championships.

I have my superstitious OCD moments during a game but attendance cannot be a factor. They play better in front of the fans especially Ovi. I was at the magnificent win game 7 against the Rangers and the devastating game 7 against the Pens. So like our last two bouts with the Sharks I have split the win loss ratio.

Aren't you a Kings fan too Richmondphil? At least they don't meet very often.

I'm a Kings fan, but it's not near the level or intensity of the Caps. I grew up in Northern VA going to Caps game..not Kings games. I do consider them my "West team" though, and it's no secret I am a huge fan of Dustin Brown.

Should be a good game tonight..Caps need a good game and the Kings have been playing great hockey recently. Two young cores going at it tonight.

Glad that your loyalties won't be divided in this game. Yes I agree they need a strong win for building confidence and chemistry. A losing streak is not the end of the world but they were so off in the last two games. Very uncharacteristic. IMO. I thought the hard practices were good for muscle memory and working out the demons as much as incorporating in the new guy.

I'd say go to a game--break the jinx. Gotta feel the lows to appreciate the highs; that's how I feel about those two game 7s last season. As for now the win against the Devils was just amazing to watch and I just don't go there on the loss to the Canes. I figure I've attended many more wins than losses and I love how the building just erupts.

I find the Kings parallels to the Caps interesting. I've been paying more attention to the Western Conference this season.

Funny, I was at the Easter Epic Game 7 at the Capital Centre years ago vs. the Islanders when Pat Lafontaine scored the game winner. I have never heard a building so quiet. Going 180 degrees, I was also at Game 7 at Verizon last spring vs. Rangers. I have never heard a building so loud.

FINALLY! About three weeks ago when we were quitting a lot in the 3rd, I said, "Boudreau needs to take those guys home and work the living shi7 out of them in practice. If they aren't going to work hard in the game, make them pay for it in practice." WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!

I'm really hoping Theo isn't in net today. He doesn't give us a chance to win and the players have no confidence in him at all. I think OV thinks he can skate and play net better than Theo sometimes! LOL!